


What’s In A Code

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Before the Awakening - Greg Rucka, Star Wars: Poe Dameron (Comics)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Lives, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29906781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: In the Poe Dameron comics, how did Poe come up with the code he did?
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren
Kudos: 1
Collections: Allbingo, Bad Day Collection





	What’s In A Code

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Ship and Captain/Mount and Rider
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Yes, Ben made a Spaceballs reference. It’s possible a Spaceballs counterpart exists in the GFFA. 😉
> 
> I admit I took some liberties with the mourning-Muran scene, but considering how Before the Awakening kinda-sorta cancels out Poe Dameron: Free Fall (seriously, just what?!), I figured taking some liberties wasn’t a big deal. And I had to make up a personality wholesale for Muran considering we know so little about him.

“I’m trying to think up a password for my ship.” That’s what Poe said to Ben even as they sat together outside of the Jedi Academy on Adani.   
  
“Password?” Ben said, raising his eyebrow.   
  
Poe laughed. “Okay, that’s a crude way of putting it. But...yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just want to have a code for it. Calling it to me, maybe. Or just keeping it safe.” He sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”  
  
“You don’t want it to be 1-2-3-4-5, that’s for sure,” Ben joked.   
  
Poe laughed in surprise. “Did you seriously reference a holo? Right here, right now?”  
  
Ben shrugged. “That holo’s a good satire of Imperial stupidity, I know that...”  
  
Poe sighed, but it was affectionate. “Impossible, Ben. You really are impossible.”  
  
They both laughed. It was one of those conversations that would have made people think they were both insane. Maybe that was what they were. Two odd young men with senses of humor that only they understood. And maybe...maybe that was one part of Poe that really got to him. Ben. The boy who had believed in him no matter what. The boy who looked at him like he was a sun, a brilliant burning sun.   
  
“I think I got it,” Poe said. “Naboo goes first.”  
  
“You don’t even have a personal connection to Naboo.”  
  
“Ben. It’s your grandmother’s homeplanet. I just think...well, you’re my best friend. I might as well keep something close so I’m reminded of you.”  
  
“You have other friends,” Ben said. “Muran, Iolo, Kare...”  
  
“I haven’t known them since I was three.”  
  
 _And I don’t love them like I love you,_ Poe thought.   
  
Ben’s eyes widened. Then, “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have eavesdropped — I just, well, um...”  
  
“It’s okay.” Poe said. “Really. I know you’re not doing it to hurt me. I know you can’t help it.”  
  
“I just hear everything.” Ben laughed, if weakly. “So...you love me, huh?”  
  
“Yeah.” Then, “And you?”  
  
He would have been lying if he said he wasn’t scared. If he wasn’t afraid of, somehow, ruining his friendship with Ben.   
  
“I do,” Ben said. “I think I always loved you. I was just...wondering how you could love me. I’m not lovable.”  
  
“Who the hell said you’re not lovable?”  
  
“Mostly...” Ben fidgeted with his Jedi robes. “I just have this fear. This fear that I have nothing to give. You’re so good, and bright.”  
  
“And you’re not? Ben, you’re one of the bravest people I know. And to me...you’re one of the most important people in all of creation."  
  
A smile tugged at Ben’s lips. Poe was glad to see that; it wasn’t like Ben’s full-blown gorgeous smiles where Ben’s cheekbones were accentuated and his eyes seemed all the brighter. But it was a promise of that smile. A promise.   
  
“You’re one of the most important people in all of creation too, Poe,” Ben said, softly.   
  
They paused, Poe feeling that warmth spread through him. Then, “Endor’s a place where our parents fought. I might include that too.”  
  
“Good choice.”  
  
“And then Ben.” A beat. “Look, I wasn’t kidding on the ‘important’ bit.”  
  
Ben actually did grin then, and there was that full-fledged smile, the smile that threatened to take Poe’s breath away.   
  
“Poe Dameron, I could kiss you,” Ben said, softly.   
  
“I wouldn’t mind,” Poe said. “Really."  
  
Ben did in that moment, and his lips...well, they were soft, gentle, easy to lean into, at least in that moment as Poe ran fingers through Ben’s hair. And outside the Jedi Academy, Poe Dameron could safely say he felt alive, thrumming with life even as their lips collided.   
  
***  
  
 _Naboo. Endor. Ben. Three four two._  
  
It was when Poe came to Adani that he looked outright exhausted. Drained. Ben watched him even as he came near, as Poe absently kicked at a pebble.   
  
Ben could sense it before Poe even opened his mouth. Muran was dead. The Republic wasn’t doing anything to stop people like Muran’s murderer, might have even been complicit in it.   
  
“I’m sorry, Poe,” he said, softly.   
  
“Not your fault.” Poe sat down next to him. “Muran died.”  
  
“I sensed it.” Ben said. “Poe, I’m sorry. Can you...tell me about Muran?”  
  
Poe took a deep breath. “He was a good man,” he said. “Such a good man. Serious, definitely — I mean, he wasn’t like Iolo and Kare; he wasn’t really a joker. But he was dedicated to the Republic. He was kind. And he could occasionally have those occasional...moments where you could get a smile out of him. And he...he basically got murdered and the Republic doesn’t even care about him...”  
  
Ben bit his lip. “We care about him,” Ben said. “And...you remember what I said about your mother? How she’s watching from the Force? I’m sure it’s the case with Muran too. He’s with us.”  
  
“Can you see him?”  
  
“I can feel him.” Energy, pure energy. “The Force was never exclusive to the Jedi. There is a way to see him. Just...do you trust me?”  
  
“With my life.”  
  
Ben cupped Poe’s face then, looked into those tear-stained eyes. It was one of those moments where he wished he could do something. Resurrect Muran out of nothing, form something else entirely to avenge his death, anything.   
  
“Just extend your senses,” he said. “Think of Muran. Picture him, in your mind, in your heart.” Poe had at least a trace of Force Sensitivity, growing up with that tree.  
  
Poe did.   
  
“I feel him,” he said. “He only wants us to keep going. To keep doing our duty."  
  
Ben was there, at least, to catch the tears and wipe them as they fell.   
  
***  
  
 _Naboo. Endor. Ben. Three four two._  
  
Ben was gone. Had fled.  
  
In between missions, Poe looked for him. In between missions, he searched. Because there was no way that the love of his life could be gone.   
  
He kept renewing the code. Even when his X-wings kept being blown up, or in one case where he was stranded with Kylo, was destroyed beyond recognition. Even when he saw Ben on Crait as a monster, and his heart broke.   
  
Even then.   
  
He kept renewing that code. He should have hated Ben. But no matter how he tried, he couldn’t hate him. The man who had basically been his anchor, long ago. (A crutch, some would have said disdainfully. But Ben was more than that)  
  
 _Naboo. Endor. Ben. Three four two._  
  
He kept it. Even though it would have made no sense to keep it, he couldn’t just get rid of it.   
  
***  
  
 _Naboo. Endor. Ben. Three four two._  
  
Ben was back. Presumed dead, before Luke had resurrected him as a sort of apology. Even as they stood in the hangar, three days after Ben had come back to Ajan Kloss, three days after their argument where they’d both admitted they’d been idiots...three days.   
  
The first thing that had gone right for Poe in a long time.   
  
“I kept the code,” Poe said.   
  
“Even after all this time?” Ben said. (He was at least trying out being Ben again. He had had bad experiences with both Ben and Kylo, and Poe couldn’t say he blamed him for the hesitance)  
  
"Yeah. I couldn’t just...change it. Because...I wasn’t kidding about you being important to me.”  
  
"I didn’t show it enough,” Ben said. “I still worry I have nothing to give.”  
  
Poe kissed him, if lightly. “You have everything to give.” Then, “Are you thinking of coming up with a code too?”  
  
Ben smiled, if faintly. “Yes. And I think your name is somewhere in it...”


End file.
